Unique equipment is available for most any sport. For example, a racket may be used to play tennis, a club may be used to play golf, body armor may be used for motocross, a gun may be used for skeet or biathlon events, etc. Often, a quality of the equipment used during a sporting event can affect an outcome of the event. For example, a weight of the equipment, a strength of the equipment, a shape of the equipment, a flexibility of the equipment, a hardness of the equipment, a durability of the equipment, a conformability of the equipment, etc., can directly affect an acceleration, a speed, a distance, a force, an accuracy, a repeatability, a longevity, and other performance parameters. Unfortunately, conventional manufacturing capabilities may limit the available quality of conventional sporting equipment.
Some sporting equipment is manufactured from composite materials, which can enhance the quality of the equipment. For example, the frame of a tennis racket, the handle of a golf club, and the stock of a gun have been made from fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fibers using a vacuum-mold technique or a pultrusion process. Thereafter, the composite components are joined to other non-composite components (e.g., to strings, a head, a grip, a barrel, an action, etc.) using conventional techniques (e.g., gluing, welding, mechanical fastening, etc.). Sporting goods made from composite materials may have a reduced weight and/or increased strength or stiffness.
Although sporting equipment having composite components may have improved qualities, the associated benefits may be limited. In particular, the quality may be interrupted because of the conventional joining techniques used to connect the composite components to the associated non-composite components. In addition, conventional vacuum-mold techniques and pultrusion processes may limit the shape, size, and/or configuration possible within the composite components. In addition, it may be beneficial, in some applications, to receive feedback from the sporting equipment; and this may not be possible using conventionally manufactured equipment.
The disclosed sporting equipment is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.